Hi Moonie,
Before Sunday, I would have said go for it. The father-in-law has one, and it's been a great truck. His is an 05 dual cab (bottom of the grade GL spec), with the 2.5TD motor, with all of 30,000kms on the clock. He picked it up about a year ago second-hand, and has been having a ball with it ever since. It's always gone where he's wanted to go, and tows his camper with ease. I wouldn't say the little TD motor is a powerhouse, but it's certainly not bad.
We had a bit of a question about it a couple of months ago when we pulled the airbox out one weekend to find the airfilter completely drenched (IE, dripping wet, and water pooling in the bottom of the airbox), with absolutely no idea how it got that way. So this Saturday just gone Trev fitted up a brand new snorkel to prevent that from ever happening again. We suspect where the intake passes into the inner guard, the seal wasn't seated correctly and whilst sitting outside it had simply drained some of the torrential rain off the bonnet and down inside at precisely the wrong angle.
On Sunday, I borrowed it to take a load of rubbish to the dump, and it looks like I've blown the motor in it.
. Whoops. Still waiting to see what the damage is, and how I managed to do it. Hopefully it's just a broken valve spring, collet or rocker. Hopefully it's not as expensive as it sounds. I can assure you though that this is most certainly something specific to this vehicle though, and not indicative of a wider problem with the Couriers. I know a few people with Couriers, Rangers and BT50s (all varients of the same basic motor/drivetrain), and none of them have ever had any problems. Just my luck, it would seem.
Other than that though, it's been a perfect little ute. Suspension is reasonably hard (as you'd expect), so it doesn't like to flex up, and the standard tyres are junk. But at 190,000kms, you sould hope it doens't have it's original tyres on it still! Interior is basic, but easily cleaned. The GL's don't have a centre console, but a Waeco cooler/warmer sits between the seats perfectly on some non-stick matting.
Aftermarket support isn't great, but there's options out there for most things. IE, this snorkel, the only one we could find was a proper Ford one from a XLT-spec model. All the usual suspects did them for the earlier models, and the later models, but not for that specific model. The '01 may be better in this regard, or it may be the same. Everything else (bullbars, canopies, etc) seem to have a couple of choices at least.
I say go for it. If it's clean, and drives nice (and the engine doesn't sound like a handful of bolts in a paint tin), then they're a good thing. Plus they can usually be had cheaper, in better condition, than the more popular alternatives.
Good luck!
Matto
